It's being called a "landmark decision." A federal judge ruled November 18 in favor of New Orleans residents and one business, the plaintiffs, and against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a Hurricane Katrina flooding lawsuit. U.S. District Court Judge Stanwood R. Duval, Jr, decided that the Corps failed to maintain the levees that breached during Katrina, flooding St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. The case involved six plaintiffs, two of which are in the same household, and the court awarded $720,000 in compensation to the remaining four.

At the same time that leading journalists and scholars are calling on college journalism programs to help fill the void left by the decline of newspapers, a court case in Illinois is raising questions about the legal status of student journalists that could have a chilling effect on the risks that journalism professors will ask their students to take.

The L Word ended on Showtime in March. For people like me who don't have Showtime, the final season is just now coming out on DVD. We are finally getting to see season 6 and watch how the series ended.

I visited a friend in London this past weekend. While I was there, I ate lots and lots of yummy chocolate and cheese and baked goods. I basked in the idea that national health care was a given. Even more, the UK National Health Service doesn't rob women of their reproductive rights by allowing religion to dictate what health services are covered; except for in Northern Ireland, termination (abortion) services are covered. After a horrible week in the US, where Democrats sold out women and allowed religious lobbies to impose their beliefs on my health, I thought about defecting. London is perfect! Well, except that even in the UK, women are told that you need set aside your own preferences and needs if you want to get and keep a man.

"When I hear the official language [of the health care debate] it makes me suppose that this is a time when we need a lot more art that's not going to have answers that are in black and white. " Anna Deavere Smith to Bill Moyers, November 13, 2009

Congratulations BlogHer community, please take a bow -- you are the face of media influence in 2009. BlogHer is #4 on Katie Couric's list of the "seven most powerful people in media". As her contribution to Forbes.com's "One in a Billion" initiative, Ms. Couric chose: #1: Sergei Brin and Larry Page, Google Co-founders #2: Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the FCC #3: Arianna Huffington, Co-founder, The Huffington Post #4: BlogHer Co-founders Jory Des Jardins, Elisa Camahort Page and Lisa Stone #5: Craig Newmark, Founder of Craigslist #6: Biz Stone and Evan Williams, Twitter Co-founders of Twitter #7: Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Co-founder There's not a single traditional media company on this list, which makes us think Ms. Couric is talking about who in media represents communities with the potential and power to truly move the needle when she writes, "[A]mong the many millions of sites and the svengalis behind them, there are a few classics that stand out." We agree: The accelerating influence of women in social media is stunning, just ask us [PDF]. BlogHer's mission -- to create opportunities and economic empowerment for women in social media -- is the driving force behind a community that now reaches more than 20 million* people each month via conferences, the BlogHer.com news service and a network of more than 2,500 excellent blogs. (*Nielsen Netratings Site Census.) Thanks, Katie Couric, we think women in social media are just getting started. Lisa for Jory, Elisa and Lisa BlogHer Co-founders

“What do people search for most often? Marissa Mayer is on the line, she is the vice-president of user experience at Google—what an fascinating title. Marissa, would you like to know what I'm about to Google right now? 'Marissa Mayer nude.'” [Listen] Those were the words of Joe Getty, co-host on Armstrong & Getty, a morning talk show on 910 AM, where Mayer had called in to do an interview about Google's ambitious new audio service Google Music.

A long time ago I volunteered at a conference for Deaf/Blind participants held at Gallaudet University. It was a lot of fun. There were daily challenges to keep up with the participants who wanted to go everywhere and do everything. I was joyfully run ragged. I have one specific memory, a lesson that sticks with me to this day on expanding thinking beyond myself.

For the past four years, the World Economic Forum has studied the gender gap - that is, the amount of resources dedicated to boys and girls and women's opportunities to fully participate in society - in over 100 countries, then ranked them. (In 2009, the Index included data from 134 nations. At least 12 of 14 indicators used for the Index must be available in order for a country to be included.) The goal, according to the 2009 Global Gender Gap Report, is:

1 Man, older and less educated than the woman 1 Woman, at least 5 years younger (be sure to check freshness date!) and smarter than the man 0 Couples of the same sex 0 Previous divorces 0 Cougars Place man and woman in same home. Stir. Voila! Enjoy your happy, lasting marriage!

Something has been missing from our conversations about the changing nature of news and journalism education, and after gnawing on it for months, I think I finally have the words. Of course teaching students to tell stories across platforms is essential, and so is understanding the impact of new technologies on business models. But we also have to research and teach about how these new tools affect the epistemology of journalism.

A new report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism -- the home of the Pulitzer prizes, no less --  suggests that government funding might be a necessary part of the solution for preserving independent local news reporting. The report has been greeted by reactions ranging from interest to skepticism and outright dismissal. The need to preserve independent journalism